Shitake is a mushroom which grows on tree trunks and in Dutch its name means “a bench for elves”. Marcel Wanders has experimented with the potential offered by rotational moulding to design a stool with an irregular, ironic shape which is reminiscent of a mushroom. The result is fun, irreverent yet enriched by the careful working of its surface which has been decorated to give the impression that it is covered in raised embroidery. The stools are hollow so that they can be filled with water, sand or other materials and resealed with the removable cap.
Designer
by Marcel Wanders, 2007
Marcel Wanders, founder of the Marcel Wanders studio in Amsterdam, is a world-renown, award-winning creative luminary. He has been lauded for his use of design, innovation and technology from publications such as Business Week, Elle Decoration, The Washington Post and WIRED magazine. Collaborating with iconic brands such as Alessi, KLM Airlines, Baccarat, Bisazza, Christofle, Kose/ Cosme Decorte, Mac, Puma, Swarovski and Louis Vuitton, he has over 1,700 products to his name. He has also co-founded the successful Design label Moooi. Conceived as a platform to host design talent from around the globe and is present in 79 countries worldwide, making Marcel is synonymous with international design excellence. Graduating cum laude from the ArtEZ Academy in Arnhem and holding an an Executive MBA from INSEAD, he is an advisory board member of THNK School of Creative Leadership with architecture and design collections at the Museum of Modern Art, NY, Museum of Modern Art, SF, the Victoria & Albert Museum, UK, the Centre Pompidou, FR and the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, NL. With every endeavor, Marcel is bringing the human touch back to design, and ushering in what he calls design’s ‘new age’, in which designer, craftsperson and user are reunited. His work excites, provokes, and polarises, but never fails to surprise for its ingenuity, daring and singular quest to uplift the human spirit. With all he has done and is yet to do, he is fulfilling his mission: “here to create an environment of love, living with passion and making our most exciting dreams come true”.